10 Stocks Shaking the Market

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Some stocks are one-hit wonders, making a big splash when they first appear, then quickly fizzling into obscurity or oblivion. But for other stocks, that initial big move is only a preview for even bigger and better gains to come.

Today, we compiled 10 stocks that made some of the biggest upward moves over the past month. We then paired that list with the ratings issued by our Motley Fool CAPS community. The higher each stock's rating, the greater CAPS members' faith in that company's ability to keep on beating the market.

Stock	30-Day  Change^	CAPS Rating (out of 5)
Harvest Energy Trust	53.50%	*****
NutriSystem (Nasdaq: NTRI)	51.23%	***
Energy XXI (Nasdaq: EXXI)	45.07%	***
Sunrise Senior Living	47.33%	**
Bucyrus International	40.47%	****
U.S. Energy	40.27%	*
Human Genome Sciences (Nasdaq: HGSI)	38.90%	*
Nevsun Resources	33.85%	*
Agria (NYSE: GRO)	33.83%	*****
Amazon.com	32.26%	**

^From Sept. 25 to Oct. 26.

As the markets whipsaw to changes in consumer sentiment, we'll have more weeks like this one, where the gains exceptionally outpace those of the movers and shakers of prior weeks. Before we get shaken out again, let's see why the CAPS community thinks some of these companies might continue to outperform the market.

A mighty temblor
Successfully combating the ravages of lupus is a difficult task. The disease focuses on the body's immune system, causing it to create autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. The resulting damage to skin, tissue, organs, and bone causes chronic inflammation and pain that can last for years.

For 50 years, biotechs and pharmaceuticals haven't been able to get approval for drugs to specifically take on the autoimmune disease. Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB), BioMarin Pharmaceutical, and Teva Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: TEVA) have all tried and failed this year.

All of which makes Human Genome Sciences' success that much more remarkable. Its treatment, Benlysta, which it is developing with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), passed two phase 3 trials, which gives HGS a pretty good chance for obtaining approval. With an addressable market opportunity that the analysts at Lazard Capital Markets peg at $2.9 billion annually, this is a big chance for HGS, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

The company has some $400 million in convertible debt coming due in 2011 and 2012 if its stock isn't trading above $15 a share. HGS got that initial boost after Benlysta passed the first of the phase 3 trials; the stock soared 500%. Had it failed in the second test, as so many drugs have done before -- and which many analysts expected this time around -- shares likely would have collapsed again.

Investors have been divided over Human Genome Sciences' potential. While 70% of all CAPS members rating the biotech believe it will outperform the market, its low one-star rating suggests that their level of confidence doesn't back up that conviction.

CAPS member hymettus thinks it's a safe bet that the company can offer outsized returns in the years ahead, but uclayoda87 finds the dicey economic picture too risky:

In good financial times speculative biotech companies have time and money to develop the next block buster drug. With the health care changes and financial uncertainty these biotech companies won't be given much time to prove themselves.

So far, Human Genome has managed to defy the naysayers. What do you think? Head over to Human Genome Sciences' CAPS page and let us know, or share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Shake, rattle, and roll
With these stocks shaking the market this past month, it pays to start your own research on them at Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made, all from a stock's CAPS page.